Hoboksar is a Mongolian autonomous county located on the northwestern border of Junggar Basin, in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. In Bayin'aowa, a township in Hoboksar, many residents give thumbs up to Qiaolipan Arenhazi's family. Qiaolipan lives with her harmonious and happy family. She is not only a good wife and mother, but she is also known in her hometown as a woman who leads other families in creating wealth — by working diligently.

Same Goal

Qiaolipan's family has been named a Five-Virtues Family and a National Most Beautiful Family. Qiaolipan's eldest daughter, Mahepali, says her parents' mutual respect is key to the family's happiness. "We work toward the same goal: To enrich our family life, and to live a better life, year by year," Mahepali says.

In 1994, Qiaolipan, then 21, married A'erdake, in accordance with the wedding etiquette of her ethnic group — Kazak. Life was not rich at that time. The newlyweds were determined to work through their hardships together. Qiaolipan looked after the elderly members of their family. She spared some time — often late at night — sewing and knitting Kazak-styled tapestries, which she sold to increase her family's income. After one year of hard work, the couple built a new house.

Qiaolipan has seven siblings. Her husband has five. The big, extended family lives in harmony. The family members always lend a helping hand to each other, and they play their roles well, as they try to create wealth and lead their family to a life of happiness.

Seizing Opportunities

Qiaolipan began learning how to cook various dishes when she was young. She once attended a cuisine-training session, organized by the Party (Communist Party of China) committee of Bayin'aowa, to help residents learn skills that would enable them to start a business. Qiaolipan seized the opportunity and attended training in Tacheng. The training lasted three months. She broadened her horizons through that experience. She opened her family's restaurant after she returned from Tacheng.

Qiaolipan has adopted modern cooking techniques to improve the taste and quality of traditional Kazak cuisine. She believes people who are prepared to seize opportunities, and those who work hard enough, will "grasp the key to creating wealth." Influenced by Qiaolipan, many Kazak women in Hoboksar have started businesses, such as offering catering services and/or selling crafts.

Good Example for Children

Qiaolipan and A'erdake hold firm to their family's virtues, such as showing filial piety to their elders, being kind to others, living a thrifty life, and working diligently. They set a good example for their two daughters, who they hope will inherit their virtues.

Mahepali says, "My parents take good care of both of their parents, and of me and my sister. My grandma was diagnosed as suffering from esophagus cancer when I was young. My parents sold the cattle and sheep, raised at home, to earn the money to pay the fees to treat grandma. My parents are close to my uncles and their families. My uncles live in a town 120 kilometers from our home. My parents gave them a car, so it would be easier for them to drive their children to school."

Mahepali has worked as a village cadre, in Bayin'aowa, since she graduated from university. Her sister, Ayibuli, is a student at a university in Northeast China's Liaoning Province. Qiaolipan and A'erdake respect both of their daughters' education and development choices, and their goals for the future.

Each of the four members of the family works hard, and each hopes to connect his or her personal development with the revitalization of the town.

Benefitting the Community

Qiaolipan and her family not only love and care about each other, they also care about the community. Qiaolipan has lent money to two impoverished households, in her village, so the families could raise cattle and sheep to earn a living and shake off poverty. She has also helped "fellow sisters," in neighboring villages, open shops to sell Kazak crafts. The average annual income generated by each shop is between 50,000-60,000 yuan (US $7,143-8,571). 

In 2011, Qiaolipan joined the Party. Since then, she has followed Party members' rules, and she has kept a positive and optimistic life attitude. She has done her best to participate in the rural revitalization of Hoboksar, and she has played well her role, as a woman holding up "half the sky," in the building and development of her hometown, especially in the new era.

Photos Supplied by Interviewees

(Women of China English Monthly June 2023 issue)